The unofficial "Reasons Why 'Rock Star' kicks Idol's butt" topic

Let me say, first off, that J.D. winning last year was agonizing for me. I hated him from the beginning, and I hated him even more in the end. It wasn't just his arrogance, I honestly didn't think he was the best performer.

But I'm not the type to look at a result and let it blind me to the entirety of a reality show. The honest truth is "Rock Star" was a great show, and superior to just about any season of American Idol. Yes, even the one with Kelly Clarkson, although she herself kind of bucks the trend in terms of the winners not exactly outshining the contest.

So, J.D. victory aside, the inherent lameness of "Dirty Vegas" aside, the sometimes annoyingness of Dave Navarro and his "I'm too cool" attitude aside, it was a great show. A show, which unlike A.I., doesn't usually pull punches with its music, and which values showmanship and a total performance vibe just as much as how "trained" someone's voice sounds. a show where understand music in it's entirety--especially how to work closely with musicians is important. A show where they actually ask you to WRITE (although I hated Dirty Vegas at least I admit it wasn't bad for something knocked off quickly). In other words, a show where Christopher Daughtry might have had a shot (although heh... he actually DID apparently try out for Rock Star and didn't make the cut...).

Too easy, Krom. The first thing that comes to mind - there's no Paula or Randy with their useless, contrived, kissy-ass comments. They drag the show down, as does forcing the AI contestants to sing unpopular, outdated styles. Barry Manilow and Kenny Rogers for guest mentors? Gah. Yeah, they know their stuff, but how about something a little more up-to-date.

I never watch American Idol. I haven't since the Clay/Ruben series. I didn't MISS an episode of Rockstar, and in fact have the entire series from last summer on DVD so I can relive it any time I want. The main reasons? I cannot stand the "judging" on AI, and while I often agree with Simon, the whole "Paula's nice/drunk and Simon's an ass" thing grates on me, big time. Also, the theme nights are torture, and I rarely actually like the music they have to sing/butcher. On Rockstar, there wasn't one song I didn't like, even when Marty was given the Britney Spears song he did something cool with it. The contestants on Rockstar last summer were leagues above anything AI offers (well, maybe except for Will, as I don't really remember him much at all. ). I hope this summer is the same.

Rockstar doesn't have a plethora of top-of-the-pop-tarts, which itself is enough for me to hold it high and above that drecky fox network cheese-fest, the music is infinitely better, the house band is entertaining in and of themselves, and the criticism is actually constructive and not that calculated-to-entertain-the-morons unpleasantness from that talentless hack Cowell. Well, I suppose you could say he has talent if you consider spoon-feeding aural pablum (now with Nutrasweet) to the hoi polloi talent, but I don't.

I prefer the feel and look of the show. The house band kicks butt. The audience is high energy.

I like that the contestants are limited each week to a list of songs picked by the actual people, real life musicians, who ultimately decide their fate.

I like the result show sing off process. It will be interesting to see how they handle the sing-off for the bottom two this time.

I grow tired of Navarro's sleazeball comments, but at least he doesn't slur his words.

I didn't like JD Fortune, but he was the best fit. This year's band seems on paper to require a singer that rocks hard. Someone doing a song like Mig's "Baby I Love Your Way" should be at risk to get the boot. This is ROCK STAR, not pop Idol. Unfortunately, the voting public may hinder process for eliminating the appropriate weak, pop star wannabes.

One other difference is that the contestants are hand picked. I believe the producers go after them instead of it being the other way around. ALL of the Rockstar folks, from both seasons, are ALREADY working musicians (usually in bands) and are spotted via a MySpace page, or by somebody at a local club, or something along those lines. Some have already recorded, although almost by definition it has to have been self-produced or at least only with a tiny label which hasn't required a contract.

In other words, its not the result of a cattle call.

It also doesn't have the aspect of the producers trying to shoehorn the participants into "Reality Categories". Other than J.D. and his stupid antics, none of the ones from last year were playing a role any different than they already do on stage. Sure there was a "house" portion (which is being aped by an ABC clone of Rockstar called "The One" this summer), but there were no Big Brotherisms at all.

I agree about the hand-picked vs. cattle call, and thankfully we can do away with AI's 3 weeks of showing the worst-of-the-worst from the auditions, which always made me a little skeeved out and I'd promptly change the channel. I'm thinking of that poor Hyung guy or the "Like a Virgin" groper. Blech.

I don't know if that's entirely true about the contestants being hand-picked or sought after vs. the other way around. Maybe it was true in some cases, but they did do auditions in several cities for both seasons that were open to anyone. (They did one here in little 'ole Iowa.) I've heard JD talk about waiting in a long line with thousands of people in Toronto for his audition. He heard about it on the radio. I think the difference is the standard they hold the contestants to - like you said, they have more experience like being in a band and/or recording music, etc.

With that said, however they do it, I agree that Rock Star is just a good show out of the box, and no need to stink it up with all the Simon/Paula/Randy/Ryan crap.

p.s. Krom I'm sure I won't change your mind or anything, but the more I learned about JD (other sources than just the show), the more I realized he was nothing like they portrayed him. They just needed a bad boy to spice up the show. JMHO...

If you recall the earliest weeks of the show he pretty much fessed up to being the only one to act like a reality show contestant instead of a musician.

He only did an about-face a few weeks later, when I think it became clear to him that he might be risking going home.

Honestly, his victory went pretty far in proving this is still a reality show, because people responded to those qualities in him as much as they did "Dirty Vegas". Viewers respond to the dramatic, and he certainly was that, on both the show and in his music.

That said, I still don't think he was the best musician there. He might have been the third best.

Still, the show itself was a good enough ride that I didn't mind that the ride wound up at a carnival instead of a nice theme park.